The present invention is related to a system for establishing video communications between a video communications device and a remote agent and, more particularly, to a video switching system, video communications system and method for establishing video communications between a video communications device and a remote agent wherein a telephonic switch selects which remote agent is to receive the video communications and provides reporting capabilities relating to the video communications.
Telephonic switches are increasingly being used by businesses to automatically route incoming customer calls to available agents. One common type of telephonic switch is an automatic call distributor (ACD) which generally includes a multiport switch controlled by a central processing unit to interconnect external telephonic units of an external telephonic network with internal telephonic units. An example of such an ACD is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,140,611 issued to Jones et al. on Aug. 18, 1992, entitled "Pulse Width Modulated Self-Clocking and Self-Synchronizing Data Transmission and Method for a Telephonic Communication Network Switching System", the disclosure ofwhich is hereby incorporated by reference.
One feature of numerous telephonic switches is the ability to intelligently select which agents receive certain incoming telephone calls. This selection process may be based on information provided by the caller, the skills of the individual agents, automatic number identification (ANI) information, dialed number identification service (DNIS) information or other information. Complex software routines stored in the telephonic switch use this information to properly route calls.
Another advantageous feature is the ability of telephonic switches to acquire, process and report information concerning different aspects of switch activity. Typically, a data display terminal generates visual representations of the information. Based on this information, management and supervisory personnel are able to evaluate the call activity within the switch and, if necessary, make changes for more efficient switch operation.
Telephonic switches further provide for predictive outdialing wherein the switch automatically calls an individual at a certain time and telephone number. When the individual answers the outdialed call, the switch connects the individual to a selected agent.
Video communications devices are increasingly being used to transmit video images between two locations. Such devices permit individuals to talk to each other while concomitantly viewing the other party. These devices are particularly attractive in businesses having security concerns, such as banks and the like.
Current telephonic switches are unfortunately unable to handle video communications. Consequently, the above features, such as intelligent agent selection, extensive reporting capability and outbound dialing, are not available for video communications through a conventional telephonic switch.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved video switching system which utilizes these features of a telephonic switch by having the telephonic switch intelligently select an agent to receive the video communications and generate reports relating to the video communications.